After losing to Germany, the Slovaks won against Kazakhstan. Pospisil scored twice, Hudacek scored three times

After a disappointing opening game against Germany, the Slovaks played Kazakhstan, who had beaten France earlier in the World Championship. Craig Ramsay’s men did not hesitate on Saturday in Ostrava, winning 6:2 in front of a sold-out crowd.

Slovakia was more active from the beginning, but they could not overcome goalkeeper Andrej Šutov. Their opponents also created their own chances, but Stanislav Škorvánek was able to hold his team.

The score was scoreless until the 12th minute, when Martin Pospíšil scored a power-play goal to make the Slovak fans happy. After half a minute, the home team almost led 2:0, as Martin Faško-Rudáš directed the puck behind the goalie’s back. The puck, by the way, quickly flew out of the net, but soon after another player sent it in again. The referee then used the video to confirm the validity of the goal by the above-mentioned forward after a somewhat confusing situation.

After that, the leading team could have increased its lead in another numerical advantage, but it failed to do so. Coach Galym Mambetaliev’s team still scored for the third time before the break. Matúš Sukeľ scored in the 18th minute after a breakaway on the right side.

Three minutes after the break, Kazakhstan took advantage of a signalled sending-off, with a close-range finish by Alikhan Asetov to make it 3-1. In the 29th minute, however, Libor Hudacek responded with a successful backhand finish from a penalty shot for a foul on Kelemen.

Moments later, the Central Asian team missed two power plays in a row. In the 36th minute, a mass scuffle broke out at the Kazakhstani goal, which started with a shove into the finishing Slafkovskiy. Two members of both teams were sent to the penalty box, so the game continued in full strength.

A minute before the second siren, the Slovaks made a bad substitution and were penalized for having too many players on the ice. However, they managed to survive the delay at the end of the middle period and the beginning of the final one. And right after that they increased their lead to 5:1 when Calgary Flames forward Pospisil scored for the second time in the game.

The sixth goal in Kazakhstan’s net, scored by Lukas Cingel, drove goalie Shutov out of the crease. He was replaced by substitute Nikita Boykin in the 46th minute.

The winner was already clear at that point and the rest of the match was more of a shootout. Despite this, the outsider managed to at least cosmetically adjust the score when the puck was pushed behind Škorvánek’s concrete in the 52nd minute by Alikhan Omirbekov.

Slovakia, whose most productive player in this game was Hudacek with one goal and two assists, will face a tougher opponent on Monday after a 6-2 win. At 16:20 they will challenge the USA. Kazakhstan will face Latvia on Tuesday at the same time.

Source: IIHF, CT Sport